The Brooklyn Tabernacle
I am currently reading a book called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. It was written by the pastor of The Brooklyn Tabernacle - Jim Cymbala. He has been the pastor there for over 50 years. We are actually going to get to hear he and his wife Carol speak at The Cove (Billy Graham Ministry retreat) in November.
We were first introduced to the church through their music ministry. Carol started started the now famous Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir decades ago and they have since won 6 Grammys and five Dove Christian music awards. If you want some great, soulful Christian music to listen to, tune them in on Spotify.
When Pastor Cymbala started the church in 1971, it was a small fledging church with no clear path forward. It took many years of struggle to get momentum and stability to grow into the 10,000 member, multi-racial and diverse ethnic church that it is today. Now in their early 80’s, Jim still pastors the church and Carol still leads the choir that truly has a global reach.
I want to share a couple of great truths that are highlighted in the book. These are spiritual principals helped fuel this great story but can also be directly applied in our own lives.
God is attracted to weakness. He can’t resist those who humbly and honestly admit how desperately they need Him. Our weakness, in fact, makes room for His power.
We are conditioned to operate from strength. That is the American way and is a very rational approach to most everything that we do. However, one significant downside for this is that it can create a spirit of self-sufficiency. If we only look to our own strength, we aren’t leaving room for God.
I believe that each of us can look back upon the most significant achievements in our lives and see where God has his handprints all over them. We might have thought we were in control of the situation but God was leading us through. As we mature in our faith, we should embrace this attitude of dependency on the front end and not just in hindsight. We must leave room for God’s power and work.
“I have seen God do more in people’s lives during ten minutes of fervent prayer than in ten of my sermons.” Jim Cymbala
The pastor attributes the success of their church to their regular Tuesday night prayer meetings they would have each week. The Brooklyn Tabernacle was birthed and nurtured through faithful prayer. It was their secret weapon in a battle that seemed too ominous to win.
This is a great reminder to each of us. I believe that none of us would say that our prayer life is everything we think it should be. Yet, we have the daily opportunity to make it everything it can be.
In the Bible churches are referred to as ‘Houses of Prayer’ not ‘houses of sermons.’ Yet, instinctively, we connect great worship to meaningful sermons. While sermons are certainly important, this is not where worship ends. Sermons are meant to point us to God. As we are directed to God, we are to connect with Him in prayer.
Whatever you are doing in our prayer life right now, take it up several notches this week. I plan to do so. James 5:16 The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Stay hungry,
Big E